Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars

The script is totally incoherent (something about a letter that could expose a criminal organization... don't even bother to think about it), and most of the comedy is lame, but the action is fast and exhilarating. Jackie has a small part and barely any dialogue in this one; I also would have liked to see more of the gifted Yuen Biao, who has a way of making even the most amazing stunts seem effortless. Sammo Hung gets the lion's share of the fighting, and at the end he is pitted against Richard Norton, one of the most worthy villains of Jackie Chan movies. I give "Twinkle" * for the comedy and *** for the action, so the average is **.

The Five Lucky Stars, played by Sammo Hung, Richard Ng, Stanley Fung, Eric Tsang and Charlie Chin, return in this action-comedy sequel. Charlie Chin's character, Herb, makes a cameo appearance only and is replaced by his brother, Pagoda (Kiu Wai Miu). They get themselves involved in an illegal drug operation plot, where an informant is assassinated by the drug lord, and is instructed by Chief Insp. Barbara Woo (Sibelle Hu) to protect the informant's friend Yi-Ching (Rosamund Kwan) while she and her police team attempt to bring down the illegal operation.

The main plot is loosely tied together and the film contains various subplots that were quite silly - from the Lucky Stars' vacation in Thailand with a bunch of tour girls to Sandy's (Richard Ng) meeting with a witch doctor, and from cops Muscles (Jackie Chan) and Ricky (Yuen Biao) high intensity fight with a gang of arm dealers to the Lucky Stars' attempts to woo Yi-Ching. It gets quite annoying at times when the movie strays away from the main plot, but what made up for it is the huge all-star cast, its numerous martial arts action scenes, humorous one-liners and just class Hong Kong-style comedy.

I remember first watching some parts of this film when I was a kid and was pretty entertained by it. The appearances of the martial arts trio of Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao and Andy Lau was neat stuff and, of course, it was cool seeing the Five Lucky Stars in a sequel again.

With such a large cast of characters, it's fun seeing how each contribute to the story. The film is not as entertaining as the original "Winners and Sinners" film, but it has more fun and action than the second film. Despite the loose plot, the filmmakers really packed a lot of stuff in this flick.

Grade B-

Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars is one of Sammo Hung's production featuring the three dragons - Sammo, Jackie, and Biao. It's the 3rd installation of his Lucky Stars series.

Muscles (Jackie Chan) and Ricky (Biao Yuen) are under cover HK cops. They are assigned to protect their colleague Barbara Woo (Sibelle Hu) who is also assigned to protect informant Yi-Ching. Barbara has also solicited the help of her five friends. Together they fend off the assassination attempt of the gangs who are trafficking drugs between Thailand and Hong Kong.

This movie stars almost the same cast as Winners and Sinners, and My Lucky Stars that was also produced by Sammo. The atmosphere of the story is almost identical too. They are so similar that it's hard to tell which movie is which at some point. The story goes nowhere until the last where there's massive amounts of hand to hand combat. This is also same as the Winners and Sinners, and My Lucky Stars. The story is made around the talents of these five stars (Six if you count Sibelle Hu), and isn't particularly fresh approach compared to other HK movies of that time.

This movie has the best cast. It's the earliest movie I've seen Andy Lau in. Other stars includes Yasuaki Kurata, Rosamund Kuan, and Michelle Yeoh to name a few.

Out of the three almost identical movies, this one is the best made, and most recommended for viewing.

After one of his informers is murdered by a Thai gang boss, lawman Muscles (Jackie Chan) calls in his former orphanage pals, 'The Lucky Stars', to go undercover and infiltrate the boss's underworld establishment. The unorthodox Kidstuff (Sammo Hung) and Ricky (Yuen Biao) soon prove their worth, and are ultimately joined by Muscles for an explosive martial arts finale.

Jackie Chan and Yuen Baio are sidelined this time, making room for more buffoonery from the Lucky Stars, who, as usual, are lusting over women - Rosamund Kwan is the main centre of their attention - and it's funny to a point, but eventually it can get tedious and the line between humour and perviness is blurred, especially with the buffoons trying to cop a feel and leer. Having said that, it's entertaining film, and the fights scenes standout with some lethal foes. The use of badminton against swords is an inspiring idea. Richard Norton is one tough dude. Not as good as My Lucky Stars, but still a good one.

Really silly stuff, goofier than usual, but fun nonetheless. Another of Jackie's "minor" movies, he's back in a smaller part, but he does get to scrap a bit with Richard Norton, who showed up later in "City Hunter" and "Mr. Nice Guy." The ending of course is really cool, and it's fun to see a young Michell Yeoh in a tiny, tiny part....